Priceless: A widow with a baby asks the prince to marry again

The green days pass slowly, and another day of clearing heat with lotus seed soup begins.

Chu Shiyu swallowed the lotus seeds without removing the core, put down the empty bowl, and said softly: "Rusi, take a break this morning. I will take you to see the excitement."

"What are you watching?" Little Qin Hao asked unhappily. His mother hasn't finished the course yet. She had agreed yesterday to teach them quadratic equations!

"You don't have to go. The pony arrived yesterday evening. Why don't you go and get to know the pony?"

Little Qin Hao fell silent for a moment. It turned out that the exchange still counted. He had already made up his mind that he would not do anything related to exchanging mothers with his adoptive father in the future, but the previous exchange should be fine.

"Why give Qin Hao a pony?" Liu Rusi was somewhat resistant to Chu Shiyu giving them things.

"We agreed to give Qin Hao a good education. Riding a horse is one of the six arts of a gentleman. Qin Hao is young, so he can start by getting used to the colt."

In fact, there was no exchange. Chu Shiyu had already selected a foal for Qin Hao. He was going to send it directly to the capital, but the horses from the northwest would pass through Henan Province, so he just had them sent here.

It seemed reasonable, so Liu Rusi asked, "So what are you watching?"

She looked like she would not agree to go unless she told her, so Chu Shiyu could not keep her in suspense any longer and confessed, "The Zhang family has been sued by many people. The case was put on hold before because of Zhang Shiliang's mourning period, but now we have to start the trial."

"Will Yang Liuyi's case also be tried?" Liu Rusi really wanted to see the ending of this story.

"It should be. Since there are so many people who want to sue the Zhang family, the county magistrate of the area has combined the cases into one day for trial."

Because Daxia often interrogates people in court during trials, Liu Rusi also decided not to bring little Qin Hao with her.

Chu Shiyu took them to watch the fun, so naturally they wouldn't just stand outside and watch like ordinary people.

There is a screen on the side of the court. It is bright inside the court but dark behind the screen. People sitting behind the screen can see the outside scene, while people outside may be able to see a figure behind the screen, but they cannot see the clothes and face clearly.

Liu Rusi sat down behind the screen, and the trial in front of her just started.

"Who...is there in the court?" A standard opening to a trial.

"Is it because you are here that the county magistrate is under too much pressure?" Liu Rusi asked quietly.

"Maybe it's just stuttering." Chu Shiyu said it was none of his business, but seeing Liu Rusi's questioning eyes, he added: "It is precisely to put some pressure on him to handle the case impartially. As for whether the pressure is too great, I have no way of controlling it."

This sounded reasonable, so Liu Rusi nodded and listened carefully.

The victim outside began to appeal: "Zhang Shide of the Zhang family fell in love with my daughter ten years ago. I begged him to let him go, but Zhang Shide sent his servants to beat me up, forcibly abducted my daughter, and kept her as a concubine in his outer house!"

"I have already accepted my fate and only hope that Zhang Shide can treat my daughter well! But Zhang Shide's wife is vicious and jealous. When she heard that my daughter was pregnant, she went to the outer house and beat her with sticks, causing my daughter to miscarry!"

"When I learned about this, I went to Zhang Shide and asked him to protect my daughter. But Zhang Shide had already found a new lover! He gave me a few taels of silver and let me take my daughter back!"

"My daughter's innocence has been lost, and she is unable to have children due to a violent abortion! Now, ten years have passed, and I am still trapped at home, often crying! Zhang Shide and his wife have ruined my daughter's life! I beg the county magistrate to seek justice!"

The magistrate had been paying attention to the movements behind the screen, but there was no movement behind the screen. The people in the court were still waiting to be questioned, so he could only muster up the courage to follow the normal process...

The magistrate stammered, "But...are there any witnesses or physical evidence?"

"Yes! A neighbor saw my daughter being kidnapped! A merchant near the outer house also saw me taking my daughter back!"

The witness then spoke to corroborate the victim's complaint.

Seeing that there had been no movement behind the screen, the magistrate thought that they would not interfere, so he gradually got used to it and continued to ask according to the routine: "Do the defendants, Mr. and Mrs. Zhang Shide, have any objections?"

Zhang Shide and his second wife were kneeling on the defendant's stone at this time. As soon as the trial began, they were sweating profusely. This was not just one case. With so many crimes, they had probably expected the outcome of the trial.

However, they could not help but struggle when being questioned. Zhang Shide argued, "It was not robbery! I had given money to his father beforehand to get his approval. When he was about to marry, his father changed his mind and refused to acknowledge him, so I sent someone to bring him back!"

"I didn't beat her with a stick! That bitch was weak and fell... yes, she had a miscarriage because of the fall!" The Second Lady's cheeks were still bruised and swollen, and she was missing several teeth, but she could still speak clearly when she tried to argue.

"Nonsense! I never saw you before! I only paid three taels of silver as a betrothal gift after I took her away!" The victim who was seeking justice was furious and shouted, "After my daughter was taken back, there were bruises on her body from being beaten with sticks! The doctor who treated her injuries can testify to that!"

Hearing that there was evidence of the beating, Zhang Shide turned to scold the second wife: "It was you who beat her so hard that she had a miscarriage! And because I saw that you couldn't tolerate her, I asked her father to take her back!"

The couple started to tease each other and the scene suddenly became noisy.

"Snapped!"

When the gavel rang, the magistrate glanced at the screen before shouting, "Silence!"

The hall fell silent. The magistrate looked at the mother and son from the eldest wife of the Zhang family who were waiting to be questioned. He asked in a much gentler tone, "Does Madam Zhang know about Zhang Shide's abduction of a commoner's daughter?"

Madam Zhang snorted coldly and said, "How could our first wife know about their second wife's affairs? Besides, our Zhang family has already split up. Whatever happened to their second wife has nothing to do with us. The county magistrate will try them according to the law."

Zhang Shide and his wife, who were on trial, turned pale instantly, but said nothing, tacitly agreeing with what Madam Zhang said.

The first case had a conclusion, but because the victim had accepted a betrothal gift from Zhang Shide and Zhang Shide had evidence, he could only be sentenced for violating public order and good morals. In order to show fairness, the magistrate sentenced Zhang Shide to the maximum penalty of 20 strokes of the cane.

As for the Second Wife, although she is despicable, as the principal wife she has the right to punish and discipline the concubine. Even if she is jealous and commits one of the seven grounds for divorce, it is their own business and the government cannot hold them accountable.

The "crackling" sound of hitting the board and the "howling" cries of pain came one after another.

After the beating, the next case was tried immediately. All three of them were about the rape of women. Zhang Shide tried to argue at the beginning, but later he was speechless. The pace of the trial also increased.

"Can you... ask the county magistrate something?" Liu Rusi asked in a low voice. As she watched from the sidelines, she vaguely guessed some of the truth...

Chu Shiyu was not interested in the scene in the hall. Most of his attention was on Liu Rusi. When he heard her speak, he immediately responded: "Okay, write your questions on a piece of paper and I'll have someone pass it over."

The magistrate was getting on well, but a note from a minor clerk made him nervous again. However, when he opened it and saw the clean, soft handwriting of a woman, he was relieved, as long as it was not a note blaming him.

Putting down the note, the magistrate looked at the second wife and asked, "Why did you suddenly take such ruthless actions to hurt those women? Start with the first one."

The second wife had gradually felt relieved because she had not been punished. When she suddenly heard the question, she thought about it and felt that it would not have any impact, so she told the truth: "I got the news that Zhang Shide kept a seductress outside. The seductress persuaded Zhang Shide to divorce me and make her his principal wife if he gave birth to a son! I was so angry that I went to his house..."

The magistrate glanced at the note again and asked, "Who told you the news?"

The second wife was stunned, and said truthfully, "It was the personal nanny I brought from my mother's family."

"Is your nanny here?"

The Second Madam turned her head and looked at the crowd. A maid who was about the same age as the Second Madam knelt uneasily. "The old servant is here."

"How did you get the news?"

"I heard it from the steward Zhang who is beside the Second Master..." The maid looked at a steward in the crowd who was about the same age as Zhang Shide.

At this time, a thin scholar suddenly rushed forward. He was very angry when he was stopped by the yamen runners. He struggled and asked in a harsh voice: "Where is Yang Liuyi? Who slandered you? How could you destroy her face?"

"What slander?! She is a vicious bitch! I have already promised Zhang Shide to give him two concubines! If this bitch behaved well, why would I touch her!" The Second Madam gritted her teeth, as if she really hated Yang Liuyi.

"Liu Yi has a kind nature, how could she do something so vicious?" The scholar's eyes turned red with anger and hatred, and his features no longer had the handsomeness they once had.

"That bitch wanted to harm my one-year-old son! My son had a fever for several days! Later I found out that it was that bitch who cursed my son in secret!" The second wife obviously believed it and was not afraid to glare at the scholar.

The scholar was furious when he heard this nonsense, and he wanted to rush over and fight! At this time, a little girl ran to him, pulled his sleeve to persuade him to calm down, and shouted at him: "You said without any evidence that my sister wanted to harm your son, and you poured hot water on her without any explanation! It's clearly an excuse for jealousy!"

"What evidence can she have to curse someone? She often ran to the back garden of the villa in the middle of the night, doing something sneaky! She was caught several times! I poured hot water on her to break her evil magic! Only two or three days after she was driven out of the mansion, my son's illness was cured!"

"You... you are slandering me!" Yang Xuefei didn't know how to refute these ghost stories, but Ruan Qing was suddenly struck by lightning, shaking and almost unable to keep his balance...

A brief moment of silence.

"Has your son never had a fever since then?" A gentle voice came from behind the screen.

The Second Madam paused. She recognized Liu's voice, but she felt bad. Although she cursed the bitch in her heart, she dared not speak out loud anymore. She replied awkwardly, "Of course I did, but that was a month later."

"Oh? What about the fever behind your son? Don't you think someone is cursing your son?" Liu Rusi's tone was calm, as if she was just chatting with the second wife.

The second wife was speechless. Her limited brain felt that something was wrong and she stammered, "How...how can there be so many people who can curse..."

"Yeah, there aren't that many people who can curse... Then why did you conclude earlier that it was Yang Liuyi who was cursing, and not your son who was weak and sickly?"

Without waiting for her to answer, Liu Rusi continued, "In fact, it is very common for children to get sick and have a fever. Many people with children know this. If you don't believe me, why don't you ask the people outside the hall?"

The people who were watching the Zhang family's trial almost flooded the entire entrance of the court. When they heard the interaction, some people immediately responded: "That's natural. When our children were young, they often had headaches, fevers, and diarrhea. We spent a lot of money to see a doctor!"

"Children under three years old need to be taken care of. If they are slightly exposed to the wind or get a cold, they may develop a fever."

The second wife's expression changed, but she still stubbornly retorted: "What was Yang Liuyi doing sneaking into the woods?! Why would a normal person hang out in the garden in the middle of the night?"

Liu Rusi laughed and said, "Does your Zhang family have any rules that forbid people from visiting the garden at night? Let's go to see the stars and the moon at night..."

"it's me…"

"Liu Yi and I often met in the woods at night. She really didn't curse anyone..." Ruan Qing didn't know when he had stopped crying, and his lapel was wet.

All members of the Zhang family were extremely surprised and puzzled. How could outsiders often sneak into the Zhang family?

The eldest lady who was watching immediately asked, "The Zhang family's farm is surrounded by a two-meter-high wall! How did you get in and out of the Zhang family?"

"There is a willow tree with its branches leaning against the wall at the southeast corner of Zhang's manor, and from there you can climb over the wall to the back garden... There is a canal inside Zhang's manor that leads to the east, and outside is a stone cliff more than ten feet high, so you have to climb carefully to get down from the side."

Ruan Qing's eyes were filled with regret, and he said hoarsely: "It was because it was too dangerous to leave from there that I told Liu Yi not to leave with me, and wait for me to find a way to take her away openly... If I had known it would be like this..."

After hearing this, the magistrate sent bailiffs to check around Zhang's village to verify whether it was true.

Zhang Shide, who had been beaten with a stick, suddenly recovered and lay on the ground, weakly saying angrily: "You actually had an affair with my concubine!"

"Yang Liuyi is my fiancée!"

Ruan Qing, who was in a state of despair, was enraged again. His eyes were red with anger and he shouted at the top of his lungs: "We have known each other since we were babies. Our two families have already made an engagement!"

Ruan Qing was shaking with anger and took out a yellowed paper from his lapel. The yamen runner took it and handed it to the county magistrate. After looking at it, the county magistrate nodded to confirm that this was a valid marriage contract.

Ruan Qing suppressed his emotions and began to recount the past: "After Zhang Shide fell in love with Liu Yi, he told Uncle Yang that he wanted to pay 10 taels of silver to take Liu Yi as his concubine. At that time, Uncle Yang refused because he was already engaged! But Zhang Shide was still determined! He sent people to force Liu Yi to get into the sedan chair!"

"When Uncle Yang discovered that Liu Yi had been abducted, he immediately reported it to the police and accused Zhang Shide of abducting a woman, in order to get Liu Yi back! At that time..." Ruan Qing looked at the magistrate who was sitting high up.

The county magistrate was stunned. The Zhang family was very powerful in this area, and they had done so many things for them. He didn't even remember the case from a few years ago. He immediately became angry and said, "Don't make random accusations! It has nothing to do with the Zhang family..."

"Just keep talking. No matter what, just say it." A deep voice came from behind the screen.

The magistrate immediately fell silent. He almost forgot that Prince Duan was still here!

Ruan Qing also put aside his concerns and continued to speak freely: "At that time, Zhang Shide himself did not come to respond to the lawsuit. He only sent a manager to bring a deed, saying that it was signed by Uncle Yang! The handwriting on the deed was clearly not Uncle Yang's!"

"But the person who examined the handwriting at that time called a horse a zebra, insisting that the two handwritings were the same! The person who judged the case also confused right and wrong! He ruled that it was Uncle Yang who made a false accusation. If Uncle Yang had not been known as a scholar, he would not have been tortured at will, and he would have suffered the consequences!"

"After that, my father and Uncle Yang tried to appeal to the county court, but the person above them was Zhang Shiliang of their Zhang family, and the governor above them... was also said to be on the same side as their Zhang family."

"Uncle Yang refused to give up and wanted to go to the capital to file a complaint, but he was told by the Zhang family that Liu Yi...had lost her innocence..." Ruan Qing's hatred almost turned into reality, as if he wanted to tear flesh from Zhang Shide.

"If I file a complaint with the emperor, even if it succeeds, it will cause a big uproar and ruin Liu Yi's reputation... I don't know how many rumors she will have to endure... After the two families discussed it... my father advised me to give up... Uncle Yang... also accepted his fate... I hope Zhang Shide can treat Liu Yi well..."

"I was the only one who didn't give up... I wandered outside the Zhang family's manor and found a way in and out... I was still thinking... that one day, I would be able to take her out..."